


Moving With You

by HolidayCat



Category: The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (TV)
Genre: M/M, Mpreg, Secret Crush, Secret Relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-10
Updated: 2019-10-16
Packaged: 2020-11-28 19:23:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20971757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HolidayCat/pseuds/HolidayCat
Summary: SkekSo has been seeing SkekGra now known as the Heretic in secret with SkekMal escorting him to meet up with his lover. All was going well until one little mistake happened which ended up with SkekSo pregnant with SkekGra's little ones. How will the rest of clan act when told this? SkekMal can't play pretend father as he has his own eyes set on another.





	1. Secerts Said

“Congratulations sir, from my research you’re 2 months pregnant.” SkekTek said as the Emperor; SkekSo suddenly went wide eyed. Pregnant? But how? He hasn’t been with anyone in the castle! Anyone in the castle… oh right. His lover wasn’t in the castle, hasn’t been here in sometime. No SkekSo has been sneaking out of the castle with SkekMal acting as his escort to meet his lover in private. SkekSo wouldn’t have normally cared if the skeksis’ he called ‘his lover’ was still living in the castle like everyone else, but since he wasn’t SkekSo had to be cautious. Apparently he wasn’t cautious enough to keep himself from becoming pregnant which he would rag on himself for later, but right now he was at the center of all of the attention. 

Oh the Emperor prayed this would go well. He couldn’t believe it, after making or rather pleading with SkekMal into secrecy, he now had to be the one to unleash that secret from his maw. SkekTek wasn’t the only one there, SkekSil & SkekZok were also near him. They were the ones who carried/let him lean on them while he was coming down to the Chamber of Life after a spout of morning sickness that seemingly came out of nowhere. Well at least he knew why he had the morning sickness now.

“Hmmm, yes explains sudden sickness. Congratulations sire” SkekSil was the first one to speak & SkekZok wasn’t far behind him. “I share the same sentiment as SkekTek & SkekSil my lord. Shall we fetch SkekMal? He will surely be happy about the news. We know you two wanted to very much keep it a secret of your bonds, but now I think it will no longer need to be held a secret. Not after this news.” The other two seemed to agree with the Ritual Master on that. 

Oh dear Thra, they thought it was the Hunter?! Well they wouldn’t be the first to think so. Him & SkekMal mainly planned out their secret escorts together when no one was around them & part of SkekMal’s secrecy deal was to have the chef; SkekAyuk give him more food. Oh dear, SkekSo just realized how they could interpret all of that as meaning that him & SkekMal were a couple. SkekSo had thought about maybe having SkekMal cover as the father, but that wouldn’t really be fair to SkekMal considering the Hunter already had his sights set on another skeksis in the castle. That & Mal knew exactly who the emperor was seeing. If the Hunter wanted to he could just give away the information which would send the whole court either into an uproar or a panic!

No, no SkekSo had to do this himself. He couldn’t risk losing their Hunter just because he was so lovestricken! As SkekSil was about to leave SkekSo seemed to find the strength in his voice to stop him. “Chamberlin wait! Don’t! SkekMal isn’t the father! He-... He was my escort to see the actual father.” SkekSil stopped his movement & turned to face his emperor. SkekTek & SkekZok also looked at him, now poundering who could’ve been the father if their emperor had needed an escort? 

SkekSo now had trouble finding his voice again. Eyes were on him once again, something he was usually used to, but now when he was the main cause of trouble? He didn’t like it. “Who’s the real father then?” SkekTek’s voice rang out & SkekSo had to swallow the lump that had formed in his throat thanks to nerves. SkekSo didn’t look up, how pathetic. He couldn’t even look them in the eyes! After another moment of finding his strength, he finally was able to speak. “SkekGra. The Heretic is alive, the ex-conqueror is the father.”

The three Skeksis in front of him were rendered speechless. Shock coursing through their veins. They wondered if this was some kind of prank the emperor was trying to play on them. I mean did he really just confess to mating with an exile? Sure there were no rules against anyone mating with whoever they pleased. SkekSo saw no use in having that type of law there because well, it wasn’t any of his business who his court members decided to be bed buddies with. SkekSo already had enough on his plate & worrying about who was getting messy with who was in the least of his interests or worries. But to do so with an exile? This was hard to take in. SkekTek & the others wanted to believe it was a joke, but their emperor wasn’t laughing nor would he even look at them.

No, this was real. SkekSo was telling the truth.


	2. Silence & Beginings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It all starts off with the gathering of nerves in order to tell a story of SkekSo & SkekGra's love life & how they came to be.

Minutes passed for what seemed like hours before anyone had spoke up again. SkekSo still wouldn’t look at them from where he lay in the hospital bed/nest. The leader’s eyes were only focused downwards on the thin white covers. SkekTek was trying to run everything through his mind & all of the hows, whens, & whys of it. When did SkekSo start finding SkekGra attractive? When did SkekSo start seeing the Heretic in secret? How did the emperor know where to find his mate? How was he able to sneak off so often that no one else in the entire castle besides SkekMal noticed? Why was SkekSo keeping secrets? Did he have more than just this as a secret? 

Well whatever those reasons may be SkekTek & the others would just have to wait for it. There were more pressing matters to attend to right now. One of those matters being their oh so silent leader. SkekSil was slightly wondering why SkekSo had been keeping secrets from him. Him! He was SkekSo’s advisor for so long & yet he was never once made aware of the leader’s troubles? Then again maybe that was a good thing. A little self awareness on SkekSil’s part was he knew how he treats secrets. He’d most likely end up using it for blackmail purposes be it knowingly or just by habit. So it was probably a good call on SkekSo’s part to be so secretive about his affairs.

SkekZok was surprised by the confession if only slightly. This is mainly do to the fact that Zok had already seen how their leader would give SkekGra such lovey dovey stares back when SkekGra was still known as The Conqueror. It was quite amusing in those days to see his leader so tongue tied & practically falling over himself for SkekGra because the love bug had dipped it’s venom in his hide. Back then SkekZok had no doubt in his mind that the two would be mates & maybe start a family together, but then SkekGra had seemed to lose himself & started spouting on about hearing Thra speak to him about the Skeksis & Urus uniting as one.

Not many skeksis took to this kindly & SkekZok wasn’t even sure how the Urus felt about it either but he had a feeling they wouldn’t be pleased. After being driven away, Zok could see nothing but pain & maybe even heartbreak coming from the skeksis once intimidating & lovestruck leader. Sometimes he could hear their sire’s soft & shattered cries in the late hours of the night. Zok had done nothing about it, didn’t even once confirm it to be SkekSo’s nightly cry when others asked about it. No he’d just blatantly lie about it probably being some wounded animal that had crawled under the castle foundations.

It wasn’t really Zok’s place to intervene in such things. SkekZok was the Ritual Master, not Cupid. He wasn’t really versed in this kind of thing. Even still to this day Zok doesn’t really agree with intervening in such private life matters. At least the priest could take solace in one thing. At least one half of his prediction for Gra & So’s love life had come true. That part being all about the babies. At least there was a tiny sliver of light in that, well for him & a few others maybe. SkekUng was probably going to throw a big tantrum once word got out.

Silence. Just never ending silence had taken over the lab. The others were beginning to worry if SkekSo was alright after so much time of just not talking. Sure SkekSo being silent for an amount of time was normal most days but after dropping such a bombshell of a love confession, the silence was suffocating. SkekSo said nothing. He didn’t have any nerve left, or at least he thought he didn’t. The emperor was trying to work it up because the endless silence was becoming more & more uncomfortable by the second. Thra, he wished someone else would speak! Anything but this damning silence!

As if Thra had heard his prayer, SkekZok had begun speaking. “Alright enough of the silence.” SkekZok said, a sliver of annoyance chasing his voice as his eyes fell on SkekSo. If SkekZok voice would’ve been demanding then SkekSo would’ve without a shred of doubt be shivering, but there wasn’t. Not even a slight hint of malice entered Zok’s voice as the ritual master asked “I know this is difficult to talk about sire but would you please start from the beginning of how you & SkekGra came to be mates? I believe it would be a good understanding point.”

SkekSo swallowed hard & nodded, still not having the courage to look at his friend in the eyes. Which was fine with SkekZok, the little victories mattered the most in these times. After a few more minutes of SkekSo mentally preparing himself & he finally began to speak. “It all started back when SkekGra was still known as The Conqueror. The feelings didn’t start making themselves known until much later. Back when we still had gelfling guards & the gelfling were only cautious of the Hunter was when things started turning. With each victory had; SkekGra would come straight to my throne to report it.” The story was now starting & the three skeksis in the room closed their maws to listen. Even SkekSil’s usual whimper was put on hold.

SkekSo continued. “At first the feelings weren’t really strong. I just thought I liked him better then the other warriors because he had such a joyous nature that was very hard to come by with our species.” SkekTek & the others nodded to that. Most other skeksis wouldn’t be caught dead laughing or giving off the slightest smile unless it was for an ulterior motive. “Of course it was more than just that. Soon it derived into paying more attention to the small things. Like his creative mind, lunatic but contagious laugh, rippilling b-” 

SkekSo suddenly stopped, face going beet red in embarrassment. Was he really that lovesick that he was just about to admit that he found Skekgra’s body attractive out loud? He heard a few snickers around & cleared his throat, trying to brush off what he just said. ”Uh yeah, the small things were becoming more noticeable. I tried to ignore them for the most part until he had come to me in my royal bedroom to discuss some victory & war plans. The plans were kept a secret from the other battle hungry skeksis as it involved playing nice to get into the enemy base. As most of you know ‘playing it nice’ isn’t really the skeksis forte.” Another group nod to that. No ‘playing nice’ wasn’t something they exceeded at nor ever claimed to do.

“Anyways, he had come into my bedroom & we got started talking. Nothing too odd until I realized that hadn’t been listening to a single word he said & was more focused on his voice & eyes. He had to repeat himself a few times before asking me if I felt well.” SkekSo stopped talking for a short time & gave off a short nervous laugh. Something that surprised the rest for sure because SkekSo would usually never do that; but this was enough for the group to give off a slight chuckle & wonder what their emperor did next.

“It felt like I had no control over my own words & I sorta just admitted how I felt about him without even realizing it until it was way too late.” SkekSo dare not speak about what happened next. It was too much of an intimate moment when SkekGra gave him a smug smirk that made the emperor tremble on the spot & the burning fire in the Conqueror’s eyes made SkekSo’s body feel beyond heated with want & need. It was the night where SkekGra had pounced on him & SkekSo was all too eager to let him do so.

Shaking his head of such naughty thoughts SkekSo continued. “That was the night that sealed the deal. Turns out he was all too aware of how I saw him & was just waiting for me to speak up about it. Things were going well for awhile, although we still kept our relationship a secret because during the time we needed to worry more about our warriors then about any new additions that may be brought on. That & bringing a new life into a world that was going through wars didn’t seem like the best course of action. So we kept it a secret & we kept safe as well.

The ‘safe’ bit confused SkekSil & SkekZok for a few seconds before SkekTek piped up with his conclusion to what the emperor could mean by ‘kept safe’. “So safe sex then?” SkekTek asked & SkekSo nodded with a hint of blushing on his face. “Yes, exactly that.” Oh, oh that made sense. “Things were going along swimmingly until…” SkekSo stopped & shuddered a sigh. The rest didn’t really need to be told because they already knew what was coming. SkekGra’s banishment. This was going to be a difficult road to triverse story-wise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have lost complete track of how many hours it's taken me to write not only this, but also half through the 3rd chapter too. I think I start chapter 2 at 7 or 8PM & stopped at like 2AM. Also SkekZok so needs a shirt saying "I'm the Ritual Master not Cupid." Even though he's actually really good at giving love advice.
> 
> Here's a drinking game. Everytime you see the word Silence or silent in this chapter alone take a shot! Don't actually though; I don't want to be the reason someone's in the hospital.


	3. Breaking Down to Build Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The waves of guilt hit SkekSo hard like a train. A train that he cannot let grab ahold of him if he wants to continue he recounting of love.
> 
> (Warning: There's a TON of feels here. Also SkekZok is such a great friend, can we just all appreciate that?)

SkekSo stayed silent for awhile. The others didn’t argue. While yes the silence had become quite annoying, the others didn’t want to push their sire during this time of retelling his love story. This was quite an awful memory to live through & going through such a thing again is never as easy, in fact some may say it’s much harder. SkekSo knew he would have to speak again soon, he’d been silent for way too long today. Hell he needed SkekZok to give him a bit of a push before he started speaking earlier. No, SkekSo needed to be a grown skeksis for this. He needed to speak.

“I-it was..” Stuttering already? He wasn’t a hatchling! Or skekling or whatever the hell the baby equivalent was for skeksis. Taking a calm but shaky breath SkekSo tried his best to retell the story without any further stuttering spats. He only half succeeded. “It was so fast. I couldn’t r-register what was happening. I don’t even think SkekGra understood what was going on either. He always talked fast but this was different. It was almost too fast t-to completely follow. He spoke in front of everyone. About Thra talking to him & about us f-fusing with..w-w-well you know.” SkekSo’s stuttering was getting worse, but the others didn’t mind. His stuttering was understandable. 

Love was rather a rare concept to the skeksis but not non-existent. So this show of emotion while vulnerable was also considered to be very strong. After all, what other emotion was so strong to make you do crazy things for another? Like sneaking out to meet your lover while everyone else besides your escort is completely unaware. ‘He’s going to cry soon.’ SkekZok thought to himself. Zok had known So enough to know when his emperor & friend was at his limit. SkekSo could only do so much in terms of controlling his emotions, especially when said emotions ran this deep.

SkekZok could tell that this part of the story was going to end in tears. However Zok did have hope that it wouldn’t do in his friend’s emotions that bad. SkekTek was feeling conflicted. On one hand this was an incredible moment to learn just how powerful this emotion could be with the way SkekSo was currently carrying himself, but at the same time SkekTek felt bad that he was even thinking of this clearly personal subject as a scientific discovery.

SkekSil just listened. No scheming, no whimpers, just being content to listen. It was so weird to see his superior like this. Losing composure & speaking deeply about love. The hurt in SkekSo’s voice when trying to speak about the Heretic’s banishment was not lost on the Chamberlin at all. In fact, it was interesting to see how well his sire always seemed to keep himself composed until something personal was brought into question.

SkekSo seemed to find his voice after a minute or so break. “There was so m-much chaos after that. Yelling, screaming, & shouting until...until..” SkekSo stopped speaking. He couldn’t continue, so SkekZok finished for him. “Until a punishment was called out. Yes we all remember that horrific day. To my knowledge it wasn’t your doing either. Someone else had spoke up before you could decree, the bastard they are.” SkekTek & SkekSil took a moment to remember just who had done so. From what the skeksis could recall they remember their emperor being quite silent & in shock during the whole thing. So no, SkekSo wasn’t the one who called the shots during the spectacle.

Then it hit all of them like a truck. SkekUng. He had been the one who called out punishment without giving the emperor a chance to speak. Of course that hothead would jump the gun before any real decision could be made on the matter. It annoyed the three how that simpleton could be so Thra damn stupid! As Zok, Tek, & Sil were drowning their thoughts in ways to get back at that ignoramus, a quiet yet frail hiccup sounded off in the lab. The three skeksis looked around for the sound. It took SkekZok a second to realize why there had been such a sound & he suddenly felt very idiotic for not noticing who was doing it as soon as it happened.

A quick glance over at the emperor told him more than enough. SkekSo was shivering; trembling even as he kept his head down with tears making their way down his metallic prosthetic beak tip. The tears were trailing down the sides of his face & dripping down onto the white cotton blanket, making faint stains show. SkekZok tried his best to soothe his friend with a very hands on approach. Not really hugging him but more so putting a hand on SkekSo’s back & rubbing gently. It may not be the same as a hug but it would have to do. Zok wasn’t one for showing affection, especially in public & while the lab may not be exactly as public as the halls of the castle; as long as other skeksis besides him & the person he’s comforting were around then he considered it public.

It didn’t take long for the other two to figure out where the noise was coming from after a sob was let out & a sniffle to go along with it. Tek & Sil stared for a few seconds in just utter shock at what they were seeing. To see their almighty emperor shaking from the sobs he was letting out & all of the tears he was shedding, the sniffles & the hiccups. All of it was something neither of them were used to & to top it all off; SkekZok was comforting him. Zok was the the strictest skeksis alive when it came to anything PDA. So seeing all of this was honestly much more shocking than the love confession had been.

SkekTek didn’t waste any further time with getting tissues or at least something that could be used as them. Sure Tek worked as The Scientist but he also had another job of being the skeksis doctor. & with being the doctor that meant you’d have at least something that could be used as a makeshift tissue, although it was usually never for a crying patient. No the main use was for more bloody mishaps. SkekSil just kept quiet. None of his whimpering would be needed right now. Not that it was ever needed in the first place. He just mainly did it to annoy the others. Keeping silent in serious times or at least things he deemed serious was more of his style. One of those being right now in fact. No smiles were to be had right now, just concern.

Soft, almost unheard sobs racked SkekSo’s body up & down. He thought he was doing so well, but the emotions just took him over ever since he had stopped talking & SkekZok had to continue for him. He thought he could stop the feelings of heartbreak returning to him after his final night of crying himself to sleep; Thought he could stop the plagues of guilt hitting him into pulverized meat as he just watched in silent horror as the love of his life, as his mate was so brutally punished & it..it ... was it his fault? He wasn’t the one to order the punishment but he didn’t stop it either.

He only stood there that night, or was it mid-day? Not that the timing mattered. No what mattered was that he just stood there in complete shell shock as his mate was beaten down & banished from the castle walls. Banished from his home, from their home. Never to return to the castle, never to return to walk through the halls, never to return to his bed & room, never to return to… his side. Never to speak to SkekSo ever again, never to share the warmth of each other in their arms, never to be intimate when the crave of heat & wanting hit them. To see the other’s beautiful body & caress it with such gentleness, to have his own body caressed by SkekGra.. by his mate.

SkekSo had done nothing to help. He could have though. He could’ve ended SkekUng’s orders if he hadn’t been so silent! He could have put a stop to it all… but what would have happened if he did? How much more of a mess would it have created if the whole court were to find out about his love life too soon? SkekSo would have had to rely solely on the others loyalty to ensure he would be safe from the others rage. So knew he could trust in SkekZok. Zok’s & his relationship ran to the undying friendship kind. SkekSo knew Zok would never lead him down the wrong path & so Zok’s trust would stay firm. However the Ritual Master wasn’t a strong brute like SkekVar or SkekLach. No Zok had more of a lanky frame which was more close to So’s own body shape. The only difference was that Zok was much taller than him.

SkekSo forced his mind to blank. He needed to stop thinking of what he could’ve done then & needed to focus on the now. Focusing on what could be done in the present would also put much less stress on him & not only that but SkekSo had a feeling that if he continued his self-destructive thinking then that would only make his mind turn more sour & his inner guilt would lay claim on him for who knows how long! He needed to allow himself to feel at ease, at least some. All of this stress was probably also doing a number on his child or children. Despite SkekSo only being two months into his unexpected pregnancy, the bundle of… cells as of right now.. were probably none too pleased about the bout of stress they had to feel.

Even before this whole surprise happened, SkekSo had heard before that babies didn’t it like it when their.. basically indoor submarines were feeling stressed because they could feel it too. It was upsetting to them to feel such emotions as well as it was for him. SkekSo used the makeshift tissues that SkekTek had brought him to blow his nose of leftover snot that had tried to escape his beak nostrils earlier, which had him sniffling many times to stop it from doing so. So was now dabbing his eyes of any leftover tears. He had unfortunately stained the sheets a bit with his tears, but he knew that didn’t matter as much. It would only be a problem if any snot or blood had gotten on them, then it would need to be washed in the river or replaced if the stain would not get out.

SkekSo was still somewhat shivering as he tried to recover his strength to not only speak the rest of his love story, but also to recover from the pain of guilt that had just tried to overtake him. With SkekZok’s hand on his back to give him some comfort, So was slowly recovering from his earlier outburst of pain & sorrow of remembering the past. The unchangeable past that had haunted him many a night of his lonely solitude. 

Damn it no! Stop thinking about it! SkekSo inwardly scolded himself for foolishly going back into those very much unwanted thoughts. He didn’t need that right now & neither did the baby. Recovery time is what was needed. Thankfully all of the skeksis in the room were being quite & none seemed to mind SkekSo taking his time at all. Nor did they look at him in disgust over his outburst of tears, no instead they just let it happen & were helpful. Zok had been comforting with his hand & Tek had gotten him some bandages to use as tissues & also brought over the trash can to throw them away, which he had already done so while giving SkekTek a nod of thanks. SkekSo still couldn’t speak right now. He needed more time.

SkekSil was… looking elsewhere while also being silent. The chamberlain was looking all over the lab, acting like all of this stuff was very interesting. Even though So knew that Sil had seen it all before because of how often he came down to visit the scientist. No Sil probably didn’t find much of the stuff interesting just because he has seen it all before. Sil was probably just looking elsewhere so that the emperor wouldn’t feel prying eyes on him. So had to silently thank him for that. In So’s current state he probably couldn’t take many eyes on him.

SkekTek wasn’t looking at him anymore either. After the nod of thanks, Tek began to focus on other things. One of those things being SkekSil for a short period of time. Tek & Zok already knew what Sil was doing as well. Not wanting to cause the emperor more stress; so he looked elsewhere. Tek already knew Sil wouldn’t find his lab interesting. Not because Sil had never shown interest before, no the chamberlain had definitely showed lots of interest when he’d come down here before. Now it was just the issue of him having seen everything. SkekTek took to SkekSil’s idea & decided to focus on other things while the emperor regained his composure.

SkekZok was the only one to not look away from SkekSo, which So was okay with. After all So would probably use some type of body language to tell Zok he couldn’t take his eyes on him. SkekZok still kept rubbing his back at a slow pace. Even if SkekSo was only in a shivering state right now, Zok saw very little reason to stop comforting him. PDA be damned! He was going to help his friend recover, even if it took full on hugging, he’d do it! Which knowing what pregnancy could do to one's emotions then there would probably be lots of hugs in the future.

Soon the shivering had stopped just enough for SkekSo to regain his strength to speak. The emperor still shivered slightly & thankfully SkekZok’s hand had yet to waver from his back. Zok was still running soothing circles into So’s back. The only way Zok would stop is if told to or when SkekSo had stopped shaking completely. A true friend to the very end. SkekSo wanted to smile at that. Wanted to smile at how caring SkekZok was when you really got to friendship status with him, but now wasn’t the time.

Right now he had to finally speak. He had to continue the story of him & Gra’s love. Now it was getting closer to the present. So would be explaining how Mal had found out & all of the escort stuff. With a heavy sigh he finally spoke up. “I’m not going to continue talking about the...night of.. ya know, but I will tell you of the sneak outings now & how SkekMal found out & everything in between until I finally ended up here in the lab.”

Zok had nodded to him, Tek also nodded with an “Of course, sir.” While SkekSil turned to him & gave him a nod as well. “Understandable sire.” Sil said after what must have been hours of silence from him. Well maybe not actual hours but it sure as Thra felt like it. Now would begin the talk of the outings. So could only hope they wouldn’t be too mad at him for what other secrets were about to come out.

**Author's Note:**

> Me shipping & writing stories about rare pairs? Yeah no else is surprised either. Enjoy your stay here as this story continues to get more juicey!


End file.
